8

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

330ml bottle. Jet black colour with average to huge, thick, frothy to creamy, moderately lasting and lacing, beige head. Slighly surpressed, roasty, chocolately, dark and caramel malty and slightly leafy, fruity aroma, hints of blueberry, dark berries in general, a touch of plum and lingonberry. Taste is sweet, fruity and chocolately dark malty, notes of blueberry, dark chocolate, plum butter, caramel, hints of lingonberry, minimally leafy and metallic overtones. Foamy texture, minimally coarse, prickly carbonation, lingering, sweet, fruity finish. Very tasty.

8.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

6th October 2019
Clear deep amber beer, small pale tan head. Nose is nicely toffee apple. Smooth and slightly soft palate, reasonable fine carbonation. Smooth toffee caramel malts, rich and yet quite light. Some Port Wine berries on offer and well integrated. Soft calvados provides another dimension, some apple stands alone but also that lovely toffee apple vibe carries over from the nose. Smooth finish brings everything together. Super duper! Smooth and rich with great depth of flavour but still dangerously drinkable. Lovely lovely stuff.

7.5

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 7

Sampled between ratebeer and Brewver, so didnt take much notes, but holy hell I remember that foam. Super-duper dense and extemely creamy. I even contacted the brewer to WTF out on him. Apparently, no adjuncts, but he suspects the addition of the candy ' blackie' created this foam. This is just beautifull to see, although my natural reaction is 'this can't be right'. Very memorable indeed ! taste wise it's not overly complex or fullboedied ( to international standards ) but it's certainly a very nice offer from a Belgian brewing company !

6.4

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

500ml bottle. Clear, reddis, chestnut colour, some off-white bubbles on top. Sweet-ish malty and minimally woody, fruity aroma, hints of caramel, oak, baked apple, calvados, a touch of plum, plum butter. Taste is sweet, sugary, caramel malty, slightly fruity, hints of baked apple, honey, caramel, candied apple, plum, plum butter, calvados, some alcohol; full body, viscous texture, smooth and soft, minimally sticky palate, soft to flat carbonation.

8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck, Vichte. Dark brown/black colour, creamy beige foam. Nose of roasted malts, some vanilla, sweet caramel (lekkies). Taste is roasty, notes of coffee, well balanced with the sweet notes of the lekkies. Very tasty stout for this ABV, not cloying sweet and heavy but very drinkable. Again a nice beer from Hopsasam!

7.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

The newest and already prize-winning HopSaSam beer, a stout flavoured with ‘lekkies’, a kind of sugar-and-butter candy typical for the municipality of Kerselare and protected as an official regional product. Thanks to tderoeck for the bottle! Regularly shaped, creamy, mousy, papery lacing, pale mocha beige, stable head, black robe with lightly hazy mahogany edges for about ½ inch off the edge. Quite distinctive aroma indeed, the ‘lekkies’ being present enough and adding something in between caramel candy or butterscotch, ‘Haagse hopjes’, liquorish and salmiak, with further notes of coffee cream, toasted walnut, beef stock cubes, pastry dough. Very clean onset, sweet candied fig paired with rather outspoken, but not unpleasant beef stock cube- and porcini-like umami, softish carb, light sourish accent; notably creamy, very smooth mouthfeel. Deeply nutty, toasty, toffeeish malt body, unsugared black chocolate bitterness but mitigated by the sweetness of those added ‘lekkies’, adding a caramelly and in the end almost liquorish-like aspect which is quite distinctive indeed; roasted, coffeeish bitterness and a spicy, bit rooty hop dosage which even ends a tad quinine-like, in turn keep the sweetness at bay in the finishing stage. The result is that these ‘lekkies’, which I never tasted myself, add flavour and aroma without turning the beer into a sweet mess. I hate the pooping dog on the label but the beer itself is technically remarkably well executed, clean and streamlined, with a good dosage of the different flavours at play; HopSaSam has produced some highly remarkable, very un-Belgian and very desserty barleywines so far and this flavoured stout is a highly interesting addition to their range, maintaining the same un-Belgianness and ‘dessertiness’ in a fascinating, tasteful way. Unusual and probably not to anyone’s liking, but recommended as a totally different new specialty beer in this country.